About Us

Located near Dodge Ridge Ski Area and the popular resort of Pinecrest, historic Aspen Meadow is the gateway to one of California’s most breathtaking wilderness areas. Towering granite peaks, long alpine meadows, stunning lakes and abundant wildlife are yours to explore – from the back of a horse! Aspen Meadow Pack Station is open seven days a week, and operates June through September depending on snowfall.

Aspen Meadow offers horses and pack mules, ideally suited to carry you and your gear over any terrain. The horses at Aspen Meadow are raised in the mountains and are trained and ridden by the Aspen Meadow staff for many years before they are able to carry a customer. This ensures sure-footedness and a comfortable ride to your destination. The riding stock is matched to your ability, whether you are a novice or a seasoned rider. Each pack mule can carry up to 150 pounds of gear – so you don’t have to!

Activities in Emigrant Wilderness include hiking, swimming, fishing and hunting. Rainbow and Brook trout are found in almost all lakes and streams in the area. In addition, three major deer herds – Jawbone, Yosemite and Stanislaus herds – live in Emigrant Basin.

Get away from it all - for a day, a week, or longer – without the hassle of a heavy backpack or the crowd of car camping.

For months ahead of time, I look forward with eager anticipation to my Aspen Meadow pack trip. Once we hit the trail, I enter into another world. The terrain is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, the horses are amazingly skilled, the fishing is great and the company is always entertaining. I love being able to bring a few creature comforts into the wilderness, a nice bottle of wine, a comfortable air mattress and a few other things I could never carry on my back make the trip relaxing and so much more enjoyable.

Lucille

My uncle talked for years about the trout in Huckleberry Lake, and I’ve always wanted to go there. At 72-years of age, I finally got on one of those horses and rode 12 hours out to the lake. I sure was sore, but it was worth it. The fish were the biggest I’ve seen and with a little lime, butter and sweet red onions, they cooked up real nice on the campfire. The trip back was a little rough, but with my handy bottle of snake bite, I made it out just fine.

Hugh

I’d never been on a horse before, so I was a little nervous when we first mounted up. Our packer took some time to show me how to tie the horse up when we stopped, how to mount and how to maneuver. By midday on the way out, I was pretty comfortable and by the end of the first day, I felt like a real cowboy. With all that trail dust, I probably looked like one too!

Chris

I had never considered a pack trip, but I was invited at the last minute and was able to go. I have to say that it was the most relaxing and enjoyable four days I’ve had in a very long time. We hiked around Buck lake, swam several times a day, rode up to Emigrant Lake for lunch, cooked up wonderful meals and told great stories at night under the stars. I can’t wait to take my son on a pack trip!

Karin

Just 10 minutes from Pinecrest Lake! We took our kids, ages 7 and 9, here to Aspen Meadows, for their first horseback riding experience today. Our horses and guide were great. We did a one hour trail ride up to the top of one of the ridges and our guide took our picture with a beautiful valley and Bell Meadows below. We will definitely come back for many more rides and may even do one of the overnight camping trips for our vacation next year.

Sherri B.

This is a super late review, but I still want to post it. This placed treated me great! Me and a friend wanted to plan a short backpacking trip so we used the horses to take us out into the wilderness with our packs. They took us 10-15 miles in on horses in 3-4 hours then dropped us off and we took a few days to hike back, and fished along the way. The price was very reasonable. It was an amazing experience I will always remember and helped jettison us into the wilderness on a tight time limit.

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Our History

Aspen Meadow Pack Station has been guiding riders, hunters and anglers to the Emigrant Wilderness area for more than 80 years. Originally called Strawberry Stables in 1929, the pack station was located in the meadow across from the Tuolumne River on Old Strawberry Road.

In the early 50’s, long time Tuolumne County resident Reno Sardella purchased the pack station and moved it to the location that now houses the Pinecrest ranger station on Highway 108. Reno, an avid hunter and fisherman, and a real lover of the Emigrant Wilderness, grew the pack station to include more than 200 head of stock. Reno and his family considered themselves stewards of the wilderness area and worked with the forest service and other agencies to ensure preservation of the land and wildlife in the Emigrant Wilderness.

In the late 50’s and early 60’s, the pack station had several locations and names, and finally found its home at Aspen Meadow. Reno and then his daughter, Laverne Litteral, operated Sardella’s pack station for many years until it was sold and renamed, Aspen Meadow Pack Station.

Born and raised in the Sonora area, Josh Bloom and his wife Amanda purchased the pack station when Reno Sardella’s daughter, Laverne retired in 1999. Josh would spend the next 16 years building the herd size and the business into what it is today.

The pack station was recently purchased by two packers, Seth Diemel and Doug Morgan, who have worked for Aspen Meadow for a combined 24 years. Having spent most of their lives working for Josh Bloom they look forward to continuing the Aspen Meadow legacy.

The horses and pack mules work very hard during the summer months at Aspen Meadow. But in the fall, they are transported to an 800-acre ranch in the Sonora area, where they are turned out to relax, play and frolic for the winter months.

Aspen Meadow Pack Station operates in the Stanislaus National Forest and Emigrant Wilderness under permit from theU.S. Forest Service.